VICTORIAVILLE, Que. — Quebec student leaders reached a tentative agreement to end a boycott over rising tuition fees on Saturday, a day after the streets of Victoriaville, Que., were filled with riot police, flying rocks and rolling clouds of tear gas, and with mounting fears that one protester might succumb to injuries suffered during the chaos.

Details of the agreement, which would end a 12-week-long protest that has paralyzed Quebec’s colleges and universities, is expected to be announced some time after 8 p.m. ET Saturday.

Maxence Valade, a 20-year-old student at CEGEP de Saint Laurent, a community college, is reported to have lost an eye and is in a coma at the Centre hospitalier regional de Trois-Rivieres. The student is said to have been hit in the head by a projectile.

It is still unclear if the object was a rock, a billiard ball or a rubber bullet launched by police.

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Three police officers and six protesters were injured seriously enough to be taken to a hospital during the melee, Friday night which was sparked by the drawn-out dispute between the Charest government and students opposed to a $1,625 tuition hike.

Police confirmed on Friday night that one officer, who the provincial police — the Surete du Quebec — said was trying to help an injured demonstrator and got separated from the rest of the police line, suffered a beating at the hands of several people in the crowd. Another officer was injured attempting to come to the aid of his colleague, spokesperson Jean Finet said. There were also reports that several demonstrators had attempted to help the officer during the altercation.

Among the protesters, the less serious injuries included lacerations, bruises and respiratory problems.

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By Saturday morning, there was almost no indication that the Victorin hotel and conference centre in downtown Victoriaville had been Ground Zero for a violent riot just a few hours before.

As the day dawned bright and clear, police officers and Quebec Liberal party delegates milled around the building’s lobby and parking lot, watching as toppled barricades were shifted back into place.

Aside from the injuries suffered, the riot resulted in some moderate damage to property. Several vehicles, including a police van, were vandalized and one of the convention centre’s windows was shattered, but there was little to no damage to nearby private homes and the protest was contained to the area immediately surrounding the convention centre.

At a morning news conference held at City Hall, Finet said that, as always, the police will evaluate what happened and look at what they could do to improve their tactics in the future. Overall, however, he said he remains convinced that everything that could have been done to protect the town and its residents was done, and that the number of officers was sufficient to control the crowd.

“There were individuals there … whose only purpose there was to act violently,” Finet noted.

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Only four people were arrested during the demonstration itself. However, within minutes of leaving Victoriaville, three chartered buses filled with protesters were stopped along highways heading for Montreal and every person on board was arrested and identified. A total of 106 people were rounded up and brought to local stations for questioning overnight.

Three student journalists on board the buses were “identified and quickly released,” Finet said.

The buses that were stopped were the ones that were the last to leave the town, he added. The people arrested are facing a variety of charges, including participating in an illegal gathering, rioting, assaulting a police officer and mischief.

Three of the suspects were already facing charges in connection with previous demonstrations.

The town’s mayor, Alain Rayes, also spoke to the media on Saturday, and called the events of the previous night “unacceptable.”

“Despite the appeal for calm that was launched via social media and through the mainstream media … a minority of people managed to turn a protest that was meant to be peaceful into a riot,” Rayes said. “I will again appeal for calm this morning. The weekend is not over.”

Christinne Muschi/Reuters

A total of 55 buses had been chartered from Montreal, Quebec City, Rimouski, Trois-Rivieres and various other urban centres to ferry people to Friday’s event, which was billed as an expression of “general anger” at Premier Jean Charest’s government.

The crowd was estimated to be about 1,000, a number that dwindled somewhat when the event turned violent.

Saturday was expected to be comparatively calm, with one demonstration against shale gas development in Quebec planned as the Liberals move into the second day of a three-day general council.

Finet said the police procedure will be the same on Saturday, and the barricades around the conference centre will stay up until the meetings are over.

Meanwhile, Justice Minister Jean-Marc Fournier would not condemn those who committed violence.

Arriving for debates at the Liberal policy meeting Saturday, Fournier said he did not want to jeopardize talks aimed at ending the tuition conflict, which went through the night in Quebec City and were continuing.

“I won’t comment on that this morning because everyone is at the table trying to find a conclusion in a discussion about the situation,” Fournier said, urging reporters to “respect this space where they could have an environment to have the best discussion.”

Asked why the government had waited so long before entering sustained discussions, Fournier, a former education minister, said in his experience there is a “right time” for talks and only when that time arrives will negotiations succeed.

The government has invited the four student associations, including CLASSE, the most militant group, which represents about half those staying away from classes. Last month, Education Minister Line Beauchamp pulled the plug on talks after two days of discussions, saying CLASSE had organized violent demonstrations.

CLASSE has denied this.

Also at the table in Quebec City are university and community college administrators and unions representing post-secondary teachers.

“Let them have their discussions,” Fournier pleaded. “Please let that happen in the name of all Quebecers.”

Health Minister Yves Bolduc did condemn the violence, noting that he is a former coroner and saying some of projectiles thrown by protesters “can kill someone.”

“It is unacceptable behaviour and the public cannot accept it,” Bolduc told reporters. “No political party can accept that. I am happy this morning to see that the student associations have denounced the violence as wanton and unacceptable.

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